Haunted Afterparty
by K.Dowe
Summary: Paulina wanted to go home after another Saturday night party, while Valerie sought a way to be close to her old friends. Against his will, Phantom finds that he's not just the bridge between life and death, but also broken friendships. *This is a short story*


RH: So you'll do it?

P: It won't make u happy.

RH: Slandering your name and making them look like idiots? Please.

Those were the last words exchanged on Omegle's site under the common interest of 131313

Paulina shifted her weight onto her left leg. She glanced across the landscape. Red solo cups, crumpled napkins, even an open condom wrapper. Eyebrows raised as she gave an upward eye roll that landed on Star. Paulina shifted back over to her right leg. "Can we go now?"

Star gave a few blinks with a slightly ajar mouth followed by a quick shake of her hair. Looking to her hispanic friend she smiled. "Oh! Paulina! You said I could choose how long we stay at the next party. This is the next party!" She stared for a few seconds before making a quick glimpse towards Kwans butt cheeks and then back to Paulina.

Lips parted to let out an uncontainable sigh. Paulina let herself glance Kwan over before she followed his gaze over to Dash. He was posing like the thinking man statue. The comparison almost made her chuckle. "I don't think so, Star, I believe Kwan would prefer it if we just--"

"Oh my gosh!" Star hopped on her tiptoes, fingers curled gently into her palms so she could sway her hands back and forth. Expertly, she held them up in the air exposing her chest to gravity as she moved. Reaching Dash's living room bureau she pulled herself atop of it. Then her hands reached further up and grabbed a box, "What's this?" pulling herself back down with a quick bounce, printed cardboard in hand.

Kwan let out a dissatisfied sigh as Dash broke pose to look over at what Star was holding. Taking a big huff, Dash blew across the top of the cardboard box. Dust floating up in large cloud to reveal the item.

"O… Ou--... Geea? Oheegeea?" Star looked up at Dash.

"Ouija," Kwan remarked. "Dash, why does your family have one of those things?"

"Uh," Dash scratched his scalp. "I'm… not sure. Maybe there's a reason it's covered in dust?"

"Let's play with it!"

"No, Star, we're leaving."

"I mean I don't see the harm." Dash took the box from Star to shake it next to his ear.

"Dude, like, isn't it bad enough our school is haunted? You don't wanna bring that home to your house!"

"Let's just do what the girls want us to do."

"Well I don't particularly," Paulina got dragged into the hallway by Star.

"Please." Star beat Paulina to the punch.

"Star I don't-"

"PLEASE!"

"I don't want to! Star, I think Kwan is,"

"On all sisterhood oaths you have to let us do this!" Star quickly grabbed Paulina's manicured fingers and held them up.

Paulina gritted her teeth. Made up face scrunching together, "Star."

"I'll do anything!"

"Why don't you listen?! I--... Anything?"

"Yeah." She gave a tiny pout, "I'll do whatever. Your hair, your nails, I'll massage your feet! Please I gotta do this! I gotta get close if he's gonna notice me."

Paulina let a smirk cross her face, head lifting up to look down her nose at Star, "Then you'll eat a booger."

"..." Star repeatedly blinked up at Paulina, head tilting.

"Okay!" Yanking herself free from Star's grasp, "Time to go." This was the easiest victory ever. If only she'd thought of something like this last week when Star wanted to skip their morning jog. Stars head followed Paulina as she pulled her jacket on and opened the house to the nighttime air.

"Wait!"

Paulina looked over, "What? I can call my dad and he'll be here in five… minutes." Her eyes grew wide. Stars first knuckle of her index finger was lost somewhere in the orifice of her nostril. Paulina snapped her head down, but not fast enough to escape seeing a green mass attached to her friends finger. Hooked under a fingernail, but still stretching into her nose. Holding back a gag, Paulina covered her mouth. Silence breathed down her neck.

"I did it."

Paulina swallowed down another attempt her stomach gave to void herself.

"Paulina? Y-You said--"

Paulina's eyes glared up at her friend who was wiping her finger off on her jeans. Storming over, Paulina shoved her shoulder against Stars and passed her. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She entered back into the room where Dash already had the board out. The corners of Kwan's lips twitching up into a smile, eyebrows furrowing up as he listened to Dash say hello to the board a few times.

"We're playing." Paulina threw herself onto the ground between the two boys. Star gliding into the room and sat across from her friend.

"I'm trying to play." Dash responded

Paulina reached back into the thin box and pulled out a heart shaped plastic piece with a hole cut out of the middle of it. "We need to use this," She offered it to the center of the board. "We all need to gently place both of our pointer fingers on it. And then like, don't break a circle until we've said goodbye."

"How do you know all this?" Star pressed her lips together.

"Wha?" Paulina straightened her back, face getting a light shade of pink, securly masked under her makeup, "I-I-- Tha… That's not- I just know, okay!? I just I wouldn't can't not talk to a ghost!"

"Yeeeaahh," Star put her fingertips on the planchette. Dash and Kwan followed suit.

"Ask a question," Dash looks at Kwan.

"What why me?!"

"Ugh. Are there any spirits in the room?" Paulinas voice stayed on one note.

Their hands followed the planchette upward to the left side of the board where the open section of the plastic piece hovered on the 'YES'

Paulina gave the other three high schoolers a chance to contain themselves.

Star drummed her two fingers on the Planchette. "Why are you like, Ya know, Why are you all dead and stuff? Why did you die?"

"You can't ask a ghost that," Kwan gasped. "You're basically asking a girl what her age is!"

"Yeah, but like I'm a girl so it's fine if I do it."

"What? No that's not," Their hands darted across the board watching the letters pass by in front of them.

I D I D N T T H A N K S F O R A S K I N G I A M A C T U A L L Y J U S T D E A D I N S I D E I M E A N O U T S I D E Y A K N O W W H A T T H A T J O K E C A M E O U T B E T T E R I N M Y H E A D

Crying, Star squirmed in her spot.

"What's it saying," Dash demanded.

"I dunno!" Kwan shrunk back a smidge, "I missed the first half of this! I-I think I read the word dead, though!!"

A picture flew off the wall, shattering onto the floor. The couch danced, the lamp shook, the bureau shimmied, the carpet did the worm. Dash's family room lit to a slightly green glow. Energy possessed the space around them. Whispers came out of the walls, beckoning items to move like the kids that partied on them all of a half hour ago.

Star got up and wailed as she ran to the exit door. "This is all my fault," She screamed. Wooden upholstery darted from the other side of the opening to stop Star in her tracks.

"Star you broke the circle!"

"Ohmygodshebrokethecircle." Kwan appeared small inside his letter jacket.

"You don't understand!" the blonde girl pleaded, "I-I--"

"YOU BROKE THE CIRCLE!" Shrieked the other teen girl.

"I didn't eat the booger!" came the last coherent sentence before the lights flicked out.

Valerie let her shoulders relax. Closing her eyes she leaned back on her arms. Her silhouette was framed on a mechanical board, that floated in the air. If there were wings upon her back, the drunkards known to prowl alleyway might have believe she was an angel. The gentle smile that adorned her face was masked behind the tinted helmet she wore. Recognizable screams came from a building two down on her left. A gloved hand gently grabbed the cylinder on her hip. Lifting up the green accented tube to her face, Valerie examined it. To think stealing one little thermos could make Phantom do all this. She could almost taste everyone's pain.

Star. Oh, Star, is she even passing geometry class? Her scream sounded full of fear. The fear of not understanding what was going on around her. Was there a worse terror than that of realizing an awful thing was happening but being too dumb to understand why? Maybe.

Paulina. Her locker was full of Danny Phantom candid shots. Valerie wouldn't of held back her eye roll if she could. Not rich enough to be that little brats friend, but the dead boy with dirt poor family morals? She'd happily let him into her personal space bubble. God, the nerve of that girl.

The boys were just boys. Nothing much to note on their cries other than, well, it was hard to distinguish them from the girls.

"There."

"Already through, freak?" The red huntress looked up from the soup canister to the erriely glowing boy that had no issues matching her height, ten feet in the air.

"Listen, Val, I--"

The sound of a technological hiss. "Don't call me that," a high laser weapon already finishing up its charge, awaiting the trigger pull.

"Hey!" The boy threw his arms up, "I'm sorry."

A silence was allowed to pass for mediation. Then Valerie stowed the gun. "You know… I wasn't sure you'd do it."

"I already told you-- there's a ghost in that thermos. I have a thousand replacements. I don't want you to accidentally open it and get hurt." He let out a sigh. Looked down the street, as if the glow given by lamp illuminating the road was trying to convey answers to him. Then he looked back at Paulina. "How do you feel? Filled up on vengeance?"

"Depends." She examined a gloved finger nail. "Do they know it was you?"

Phantom faltered. Let himself play out being honest mentally before thinking better of it. Who was he to spit in the face of good Lady Luck and a well timed ouija board. "Of course I let them know. You got your perfect revenge. Your dastardly plans have foiled my good name and gotten petty revenge on poor high schoolers!!" He threw himself back in despair. Chanced a glance at Val who had a bored expression on her face. He cleared his throat. Sat back upright. "Now, my thermos?"

Valerie tossed it to and fro, gliding by her face. She did it for a minute until Phantom reached his hand out to grab it. She quickly pulled back. "Keep away from me!"

Green eyes bugged out at her, "You've got to be-- Listen to me. I would love to keep this going but we made a deal, and I've got a curfew to be late to."

"Ha. Don't make me laugh."

A side smirk, "Too late. It appears you've already-"

Rouge laser blast flew past the already deceased head. "I'm thinking I'll hold onto this thermos." Valerie pulled herself up into a standing position on her board.

"Wait, PLEASE!" But it was too late. Wind smacking her helmet, the red huntress was gone.

Phantom floated, stared blankly at the spot she inhabited a moment ago then let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "What a woman," he mused. Unable to decide whether to reflect on her ignoring his warning of the thermos or to think on having been able to see her in her armor against the moonlight, he decided to change track from her entirely. Focus his energies on the thought of a nice bed to fall into. A bed that understood him. A bed that didn't flirt with his human half and try to pelt his ghost one. He flew home only thinking of the moment his body would collapse into its sheeted embrace.

Valerie hit the small button on her wrist that contracted all her armor into a conveniently sized wrist band (stylish too). She kicked off her shoes and face planted into her pillows. Thinking of an excuse to give her boyfriend as to why she'd be so tired the next morning. Planning only exhausted her more. She let a whine bury into her pillow before hugging onto it. He always got an adorably concerned look on his face when she'd drool on the desk. Of course, he probably didn't know she was drooling… well, a girl can hope, anyway. If only he didn't follow it up by scolding her to go to sleep on time. He reminded her of her father. The nagging about how she should treat her schedule. Do this do that you have bigger things to concern your days with than ghosts. She went to school to be berated, she came home to be reprimanded.

However, Danny wasn't exactly setting the highest example to follow. There was a chance he'd be too tired to notice. Sometimes he was like that. It was a pleasant thought to drift off to. So much so, that it would keep her through her alarm clock the next morning.

"I can't believe this."

"Yes it's quite odd, isn't it?"

"Get your hand off my-- BERTRUDE!"

"Sorry, Penelope."

"Two days stuck in this space with you."

"I'd strangle myself if I wasn't already dead."

"I'd strangle you, anyway. If I could wiggle my hands to your fat neck."

The two ghosts bickered away with each other. Neither knowing it'd be another three days until Phantom would get his thermos. Finally able to release them back into their habitat.


End file.
